The thermal characteristics of the external wall are important to the energy consumption of the air conditioning system. Great attention should also be paid to the energy loss of the air exhaust. An innovation wall model based on interlayer ventilation is presented in this paper. The interlayer ventilation wall combines the wall and air exhaust of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC). The results of the experiment show that the energy loss of the exhaust air can be fully recovered by the interlayer ventilation wall. The cooling load can be reduced greatly because the temperature difference between the internal surface of the interlayer ventilation wall and the indoor air is very small. Clearly, the small temperature difference can enhance thermal comfort. In order to popularize the interlayer ventilation wall, technical and economical analysis is presented in this paper. Based on the buildings in the Shanghai area and a standard air conditioning system, a 4 years payback period for interlayer ventilation wall implementation was found according to the analysis. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.